By: Louis Rushmore

“Please explain 1 Tim 2:8 re: lifting up holy hands.” Pete Tucker, Edgewood Church of Christ, Columbus, GA

“Lifting up holy hands” in the context of 1 Timothy 2:8 refers to a posture of prayer by the male member articulating a public prayer.  The verse reads, “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”  The Greek word for “men” here refers to the masculine gender rather than being inclusive of women as in “mankind.”  The brother audibly making the prayer here raises his hands.  The phrase “lifting up holy hands” does not refer to any of the non-verbal participants in that prayer, men or women.  Further, the “lifting up holy hands” is not comparable to the audience raising their hands and swaying, etc.

Various postures were employed in biblical times, as now, for prayer.  No particular posture is especially superior to any other posture in prayer.  Prayerful postures include, kneeling (1 Kings 8:54; 2 Chronicles 6:13; Psalms 95:6; Luke 22:41; Acts 9:40), bowing one’s head (Genesis 24:26; Exodus 4:31; 12:27), lying face down (Matthew 26:39), standing or kneeling and raising one’s hands (1 Kings 8:22, 54; Psalms 28:2; 63:4; 88:9), standing (1 Samuel 1:26; Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11, 13).

As to the lifting up of the hands, the following can be stated: Vincent says that among the orientals, the lifting up of the hands accompanied the taking of an oath, blessing, and prayer. The custom passed over into the primitive church, as may be seen from the mural paintings in the catacombs.  [Wuest, Kenneth S., Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) 1997.]

The emphasis on “holy hands” refers to the posture of one’s internal disposition.  “The point here is that only men should lead in public prayer who can lift up ‘clean hands’” (morally and spiritually clean).  [Robertson, Archibald Thomas, Word Pictures in the New Testament, (Nashville, Tennessee, USA: Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention) 1998, c1933.]

Author: Louis Rushmore